Life After Graduation

STEM3 Academy is designed to help our graduates find pathways to meaningful work after they graduate from high school or college. Too often, smart young adults with learning differences are either underemployed or unemployed as they enter young adulthood. This disconnect between ability and success signals lost opportunity for individuals and their families; it also represents a rich, untapped resource for the nation. Economists report that the U.S. is poised to experience a severe shortfall of skilled workers to fill some 8.65 million jobs in STEM related fields. Special needs students can help fill that gap.

STEM jobs do not all require a college degree. One report* indicated that fewer than half of entry-level STEM jobs require a bachelor's. Of course, a bachelor's degree does help to boost salary — the average advertised starting salary for entry-level STEM jobs with a bachelor's requirement was 26% higher than jobs in non-STEM fields. There were 2.5 more entry-level job postings for a bachelor's degree recipient in a STEM field than in non-STEM fields.